An Occupational Hazard
by DragonFire081
Summary: Hiccup is just finishing off some work in the forge when Astrid asks him to take a flight with her. They do it every day, why should today be any different? Neither of them suspect how badly wrong it could go. One-shot


**Okay, this is my first ever fic, so constructive criticism is very welcome, if you have any to give. :) **

**This will probably be a one-shot, but I'll see how things go. You may want to get your tissue box out :P **

**HTTYD - An Occupational Hazard **

Hiccup sighed, and let the hammer in his left hand fall to the bench. He usually loved working in the Forge, but today he just didn't want to be there. The heat from the fires was giving him a headache, so he decided to stop for a minute and get some fresh air.

"Hey bud" Hiccup called as he stepped outside the Forge to find Toothless lying on the ground. The dragon's head shot up at the sound of Hiccup's voice, and he cocked it slightly to the left, silently asking the question he never hesitated to ask.

Hiccup laughed, scratching the dragon on the head. "I'm sorry Bud" he sighed. "I've still got a bit of work to do, but as soon as I've finished we can go for a flight."

"Why don't you just go now?" a voice asked from behind Hiccup. He turned to find Astrid standing there, one hand on her hip and the other on the neck of her dragon, Stormfly. Toothless immediately jumped to his feet.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried, the familiar smile that graced his lips whenever he saw her returning to his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Just going for an afternoon flight" she said casually, glancing up at the overcast sky. There were a few menacing black clouds away to the east, but they were still far off, and Astrid didn't think they would bother them today. "I'd quite like some company though" she continued, looking back at Hiccup with a wry smile.

"Astrid, I..." He began, but was swiftly cut off by Toothless, who pushed his head into Hiccup's back, causing the boy to stumble forward toward Astrid. She smiled as Hiccup stuttered, nervously scratching the back of his head while a rosy blush began to creep up his face.

"Oh come on" she said, as her smile grew. She knew she had won.

"Fine" Hiccup grunted. "It'd probably do me good anyway. I'll just go and pack up my stuff in the Forge".

"Oh don't worry about that!" Astrid cried. "Let's just go now, before anyone comes along to ruin the peace!"

Hiccup smiled to himself. He knew why she had said that: She didn't want to give him a chance to change his mind. But he really did feel like flying, even if he hadn't quite finished his work...

"Okay" he sighed, turning round to face a beaming Astrid. "I guess I could spare a few minutes..."

* * *

They took off into the swirling grey clouds, soaring high above Berk. But as Hiccup looked down, he noticed that their village seemed to have disappeared from view faster than it normally did when they flew in this direction, and he frowned. "Astrid, I'm not sure that this is such a good idea-" he began, turning around in the saddle. He blinked in suprise. Astrid had all but disappeared. "Astrid?" He called. There was no response. "Astrid!" He yelled, panic flooding through his veins. A cold fear, like an iron grip seized him, and he looked around wildly, eyes wide in terror. Had she fallen out of the sky? "Oh gods!" He cried aloud, looking down towards the ocean. But suddenly Hiccup heard a whooshing sound behind him, and he turned to find Astrid staring at him, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide as if she too had been fearful.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried again, as a warm sense of relief washed over him. "Gods you scared me! Where did you go?"

"I lost you" Astrid murmed, almost incoherently. "I looked around and suddenly you weren't there".

Hiccup frowned again. He had been sure that it was Astrid who'd disappeared, not him. He was starting to feel as if something was not quite right, and looking up, he realised what it was. Foreboding black clouds stared down at them from the heavens, which seemed alarmingly close. Astrid followed his gaze and her face blanched. "I didn't think these would come today!" She yelled, against the gathering strength of the wind, and Hiccup realised that it hadn't just been fear that had chilled him to the bone before.

"You knew about these?!" He cried incredulously. "And you still thought it was a good idea to fly?"

Hiccup looked back at the clouds. They were almost pitch black, and he couldn't fathom how much rain must be inside them. He glanced back down, but Berk was still completely lost from view. A howling, chilling wind snaked through the clouds, forming them into all sorts of swirling shapes and patterns. Hiccup knew that back down on the island, everyone would be hurrying around, gathering supplies and trying to barricade their homes from the sudden coming onslaught of bad whether. With a pang of guilt, he realised that his father would be starting to panic, and Astrid's mother would probably be doing the same.

"We should try and get back!" Astrid yelled. A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, and a fork of lightening shot from the heavens, briefly illuminating the darkening sky.

"That's the best idea you've had all afternoon!" Hiccup yelled back, as the two teens began to cautiously fly downward.

* * *

Hiccup never saw actually saw it. He heard a crack of thunder echo across the sky, then a blinding light connected with the metal of his lower left leg and Toothless's saddle. He let out a strangled cry, not of pain, but of terror as he was thrown from Toothless's back, and began to fall, down, down through the swirling black clouds, down towards either the sea, or the harsh land of Berk. He heard Astrid's terrified scream above him, probably of his name. He heard Toothless's roar of panic somewhere not far below him. He saw Astrid as she flew faster than he had ever seen her fly. Straight down. Towards him. He cried out in horror as the clouds finally cleared, and saw that he was falling right towards the center of the island. He could see Toothless now, and he stretched out towards the dragon, hoping against hope that he could reach him in time. He heard another scream above him, and looked up to see Astrid pull up and swerve around a bright bolt of lightening. He realised with panic that there was no way she could reach him in time now, not without crashing into the ground. Below him Toothless roared, and Hiccup saw that the ground was frighteningly close. With one last desperate reach, he stretched out towards Toothless.

* * *

...

Stoick gazed out from the steps of his home. All around him he saw people hurrying through the streets with sacks of grain, barrels of mead, planks of wood, and other such items necessary to survive. He couldn't understand why such a horrendous storm would come this early in the season. It wasn't even devastating winter yet. But just then, he saw Gobber hobbling quickly towards where he stood, and he hurried down the stairs to meet him.

"Any sign of him?" Stoick called as he reached the bottom of the steps.

"Not a trace" replied Gobber. "His work an' gear are all still in the Forge. It looks as if 'e just got up an' left!"

"But why would he do that! exclaimed Stoick. "He never does that!"

"I know!" Gobber cried. "That's why I though' it were strange!"

Stoick gazed up into the sky. "Toothless is gone as well" he muttered to himself. "There's only one place he could of gone".

"But why woul' 'e go for a flight in such bad whether?" Gobber questioned, also looking into the sky. "He's not stupid".

"Sir!" a panicked voice called.

Stoick turned to find Astrid's mother running up the hill to meet them.

"Astrid and Stormfly are gone!" She cried. "I fear they are lost in the storm!"

"Hiccup an' Toothless ar' gone aswell!" Gobber said.

"You don't think they've..." Stoick began.

"Flown off togeth'r an' gott'n lost?" Gobber finished.

Suddenly Astrid's mother let out a terrified scream. "Look!" She cried, pointing towards the center of the island, just past the edge of the village.

Stoick and Gobber both looked over, just in time to see a large black dragon followed by a smaller shape fall out of the sky.

* * *

...

"HICCUP!" Astrid screamed, as he was thrown from Toothless's back By the force of the lightening strike. She flung herself against Stormfly's neck as the pair raced down toward Hiccup, who was desperately trying to reach Toothless. At least he was still conscious, she thought, unlike last time, when he had stood atop the mast of one of their ships with a metal rod to save Toothless. She screamed again as a fork of lightening narrowly missed her, forcing her to pull up. But even as she continued to fly downward, Astrid knew it was useless, she was too far away now, and Hiccup was too close to the ground. She could only hope that he would reach Toothless in time...

...

Hiccup reached out toward Toothless, as the dragon roared in fright. Hiccups small green eyes met with Toothless's large ones, and he knew it was too late. The ground was less than 50 metres away, and Toothless was out of arms reach. Hiccups eyes widened as he stared into Toothless's large, green orbs, and he felt overcome with a sudden sadness. The dragon was saying goodbye. "No" Hiccup breathed. But the ground was too close. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and waited, the last agonising seconds. He heard Toothless's roar of pain, Astrid's prolonged scream. Then with a shuddering jolt and a sickening crunch, everything seemed to freeze.

* * *

...

_Suddenly Astrid's mother let out a terrified scream. "Look!" She cried, pointing towards the center of the island, just past the edge of the village_.

"Hiccup!" Stoick breathed, panic clearly noticeable in his voice. The three watched in horror as the boy and dragon fell through the air, then a small cloud of dust rose up and Stoick knew that his son had hit the ground. Whether he was still alive was the question, and with a loud yell of his son's name, Stoick ran towards the site of the crash.

* * *

...

Hiccup gasped, his breath coming in shaky rasps. Everything hurt. He slowly writhed on the ground where he had fallen, trying with everything he had left to keep breathing through his crushed chest. The pain was blinding, and he screwed up his face to keep from breaking into sobs. What had just happened? He had fallen out of the sky, that's what. If he could have he would have laughed; this what he'd feared had happened to Astrid just after they took off. Astrid! Where was she? Had she fallen as well? Hiccup tried to organise his jumbled thoughts: for some reason he couldn't seem to remember exactly what had transpired just a few minutes before. But then through the blood rushing in his ears he heard his name.

"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled as she jumped of Stormfly's back. She only had a few metres to run from where she had landed to reach the barely moving figure on the ground. Astrid skidded to a stop, falling to her knees beside Hiccup's now prone body. A cold shock ran through her, chilling her to the bone as she took in the site that lay before her. Hiccup lay on the ground, his body twisted in odd places, and bent where Astrid knew he shouldn't bend. The metal of his prosthetic was dented badly, the wood splintered, and his other leg wasn't in the best shape either. Hiccup's right leg bent backwards at the knee, and a large lump showed through the leg of his trousers just above it. She gasped in horror, tears springing to her eyes as she saw a puddle of dark blood seeping out from under his tunic. His chest was barely rising, and from it protruded several cracked and broken ribs. His right shoulder was clearly dislocated, and blood oozed from the joint. It was a terrible sight to behold.

...

Hiccup heard a gasp above him and slowly opened his eyes to find Astrid gazing down at him, silent tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Oh my gods" she whispered hoarsely, as she let out a shaky sob.

Hiccup groaned in pain, unable to stop the tears of his own spilling from his eyes. He dug his fingers through the dirt, trying to fight the pain, and he was glad when Astrid took his hand in hers, lifting him into her arms.

"Oh Hiccup" she choked " I'm so sorry"

"It's ... Ok" Hiccup managed to say. The pain was mounting, and at the same time numbing. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe, and he knew the end was coming. But why now? Why so soon? He had just managed to find a place for himself in the village, and now he was going to die. He took the deepest breath possible, and looked up at Astrid. Her beautiful face was streaked with tears, her gorgeous blue eyes rimmed with red. He had never seen her this upset before, and it warmed his slowing heart to realise how much she really cared for him. And he was going to leave her.

"Astrid" Hiccup whispered. "I love you. And I don't blame you for this. Please don't ever forget that."

Astrid gave her biggest sob yet, but instead of answering him, she leaned down and kissed Hiccup on the lips. He kissed her back but it faded half way through, causing Astrid to pull back. Hiccup's eyes were closed and there seemed to be the traces of a smile on his lips. He didn't move.

"Hiccup!" Astrid cried, almost shaking him, and to her relief his eyes flew open.

"I'm still here" he breathed. "I'm still here..."

"I love you too" Astrid whispered. "I'll always love you, Hiccup."

Hiccup smiled softly. His strength was rapidly fading. "Please... take care of Toothless" he choked, and it broke Astrid's heart to see him like this.

"I will" she said, briefly looking over to the large black dragon, who lay curled on the ground nearby, breathing steadily but not moving. "Of course I will".

"Thank you" Hiccup whispered. He felt his eyes begin to close.

"No" Astrid whispered. "Hiccup no! You can die, you can't!" She half yelled.

"I'm sorry" Hiccup whispered. "I don't want to go." He felt vomit rising up his throat, and Astrid held him as he choked it out. But even with his fading vision, he could see that it was mostly comprised of blood. Astrid repositioned him in her arms, and hiccup saw that her arms and chest was covered in blood. His blood. With every ounce of strength that remained, Hiccup looked into her eyes. Her beautiful, teary eyes.

"Goodbye, Astrid" he whispered. "I love you"

"Goodbye" Astrid sobbed. "Goodbye, Hiccup. I love you"

Hiccup gave the faintest of smiles as she said those last words. But then his vision swirled, and eventually faded into blackness.

He was dead.

* * *

...

"Hiccup!" Stoick yelled as he ran through the forest, With half the village in tow. "Astrid!" They burst into a clearing, and Stoick stopped short. There were copious amounts of gasps and muttering behind him, but Stoick could only stare in shock. The sight before him was truly horrific. Astrid knelt on the ground in a dark pool of blood, sobbing hysterically into the neck of his son, who lay limply in her arms. "No..." he whispered, taking a step forward before falling to his knees. The pool of blood was dripping from Hiccup's limp body, and Stoick knew that there was no way anyone could survive losing that amount of blood. Tears began to pour down his face and into his beard as the enormity of what had happened began to sink in. His son was dead.

Hiccup was dead.

* * *

**A/N: So, that was my first ever fic and I would really appreciate a review, if you have something to say, good or bad. :)**

**Thanks for reading! :)**


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